Do college essay prompts stay the same every year or do they change?
I'm a high school junior starting to look at college applications, especially the essay part since everyone keeps saying it's super important. Something I'm not clear about is whether essay prompts for popular colleges, like the Common App or specific universities, stay the same from year to year.
If I look at this year's prompts and start brainstorming or even drafting some responses, will any of that work be useful for next year? Or am I better off waiting until the official prompts are released for my application cycle? Would love to hear from anyone who applied last year — did you notice big changes in the prompts or were they pretty much the same?
Trying to get a head start without wasting effort!
If I look at this year's prompts and start brainstorming or even drafting some responses, will any of that work be useful for next year? Or am I better off waiting until the official prompts are released for my application cycle? Would love to hear from anyone who applied last year — did you notice big changes in the prompts or were they pretty much the same?
Trying to get a head start without wasting effort!
6 months ago
•
198 views
Lydia Schooler
• 6 months ago
Advisor
As a Yale graduate and college admissions advisor with over 8 years of experience helping students plan and write successful applications, I can tell you that many major essay prompts—especially the Common App personal statement—stay the same for years at a time. In fact, the Common App prompts have barely changed since 2017, so starting work on them now is a safe bet. Essays you brainstorm or draft this year will almost certainly still be relevant next year.
For specific colleges, it’s more mixed. Some, like the University of California system, keep their prompts the same for several years. Others, especially highly selective schools, may tweak or rotate supplemental prompts annually. Georgetown and the University of Chicago, for example, keep some prompts consistent but often add one or two new ones each year.
If you want to start now, you can draft responses to current prompts as practice. Even if a question changes slightly, you can adapt your work. For example, if you brainstorm an answer to “Describe a community you belong to,” you might be able to repurpose that essay for multiple schools by adjusting the framing. A lot of the storytelling techniques and reflections you develop now will be valuable no matter the exact wording of next year’s prompts.
One smart approach is to start with the Common App main essay and also brainstorm ideas for supplemental questions that tend to repeat across schools—topics like community, intellectual curiosity, or personal growth. A former student of mine wrote about her love of building computers, then reused and adapted that essay for several different prompts with minimal changes.
The main risk is spending too much time on something highly specific to one school’s unusual prompt, which may not return next year. But general brainstorming and early drafting are almost never wasted—you can usually repurpose or reshape your work.
So yes, getting a head start is a great idea. Just stay flexible and be ready to make small tweaks when the official prompts come out next summer.
Over the past 8 years, I’ve helped thousands of students craft essays and applications that stand out at the most selective schools. I’m currently offering free consultations for new Sundial families, where we can review your goals, brainstorm essay ideas, and outline a clear application strategy. You can book one directly through my profile—spots this month are limited.
For specific colleges, it’s more mixed. Some, like the University of California system, keep their prompts the same for several years. Others, especially highly selective schools, may tweak or rotate supplemental prompts annually. Georgetown and the University of Chicago, for example, keep some prompts consistent but often add one or two new ones each year.
If you want to start now, you can draft responses to current prompts as practice. Even if a question changes slightly, you can adapt your work. For example, if you brainstorm an answer to “Describe a community you belong to,” you might be able to repurpose that essay for multiple schools by adjusting the framing. A lot of the storytelling techniques and reflections you develop now will be valuable no matter the exact wording of next year’s prompts.
One smart approach is to start with the Common App main essay and also brainstorm ideas for supplemental questions that tend to repeat across schools—topics like community, intellectual curiosity, or personal growth. A former student of mine wrote about her love of building computers, then reused and adapted that essay for several different prompts with minimal changes.
The main risk is spending too much time on something highly specific to one school’s unusual prompt, which may not return next year. But general brainstorming and early drafting are almost never wasted—you can usually repurpose or reshape your work.
So yes, getting a head start is a great idea. Just stay flexible and be ready to make small tweaks when the official prompts come out next summer.
Over the past 8 years, I’ve helped thousands of students craft essays and applications that stand out at the most selective schools. I’m currently offering free consultations for new Sundial families, where we can review your goals, brainstorm essay ideas, and outline a clear application strategy. You can book one directly through my profile—spots this month are limited.
Related Questions
Students also ask…
How much federal funding does Harvard actually receive every year?
Who actually reads our college application essays and how are they evaluated?
How common is AI cheating in college nowadays?
Can colleges tell if you used AI to write your essays?
Do colleges actually use AI detectors on application essays?